Making municipalities climate-fit –
how adaptation protects our health

Where we live shapes our health. But the climate crisis is changing our immediate surroundings: places that once offered cool refuge now often trap heat in our streets. Heavy rainfall and extreme weather events put a strain on our health. New risks of infection are emerging. It is in our towns and cities that we feel these changes first – and it is here that decisions are made about how we adapt. But how can we transform our municipalities into places that actively protect our health and wellbeing? How can risks be reduced, particularly for vulnerable groups? Today, municipal decisions are increasingly also health decisions.

In the Dialogue Forum accompanying the “Planetary Health – One Planet. One Health. Our Future”, at the Deutsches Museum, we will explore the municipality as a central living and action space. We will discuss the levers that operate at the local level. In doing so, we will focus on community life in our neighbourhoods and ask: how can health and climate policy be effectively integrated so that everyone benefits?

Whether heat action plans or the monitoring of emerging health risks, we will seek practical solutions for a resilient community/municipality. We will also look at pioneering municipalities that are already successfully integrating health protection into everyday practice while particularly safeguarding vulnerable groups.

Exchange ideas with experts from the fields of medicine, public administration and science and help set the course for our cities and communities. 

Join us, take part in the discussion and ask your questions!

Date: 21 May 2026 at 6:00 PM
Admission: From 5:30 PM

Venue: Munich Re, Europe Hall, Giselastraße 21, 80802 Munich
Event language: German

Beatrix Zurek
Health Commissioner, City of Munich

Prof. Annette Peters
Director, Institute of Epidemiology at Helmholtz Munich

Raoul Schmidt-Lamontain
Mayor for Climate Protection, Environment and Mobility, City of Heidelberg

Andrea Gebhard
President, Federal Chamber of Architects

Moderation:

Renate Bleich
Chair, Munich Re Foundation